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Aid continues to arrive in drought-hit Central Papua as Indonesia braces for dry spell
After days of bad weather last week initially impeded relief efforts, authorities said they have managed to deliver some 5.2 tonnes of food aid and emergency kit to drought-stricken Agandugume district in Central Papua.
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Officials and volunteers carry packages of humanitarian aid for famine victims from an airplane in Puncak Jaya regency, Central Papua on July 26, 2023. (Antara/HO/Kemensos)
After days of bad weather last week initially impeded relief efforts, authorities said they had managed to deliver 5.2 tonnes of food aid and emergency kits to drought-stricken Agandugume district in Central Papua.
One-fourth of the aid was delivered by air directly to Agandugume after the bad weather that had previously hindered aid airlifts began to ease, and the remaining came via the Sinak airstrip in the neighboring Sinak district, the launching point for aid to Agandugume.
The aid included a total of 515 packets of basic food commodities, 475 mattresses, 100 blankets, seven electricity generators and 60 tents, according to National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
“This aid will be delivered continuously. The BNPB will continue to assist both the logistics and the transportation [to the areas] during this emergency response period,” Abdul said in a statement released on Monday.
He said his office had also been scouting a suitable location for a food warehouse to be built near the Agandugume airstrip.
Plans to develop a food estate project in Agandugume were first mentioned by Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy during his visit to the district last week, as part of longer-term efforts to prevent the regular food shortages in the region.
The districts of Agandugume and Lambewi in Puncak regency have been suffering from droughts and cold weather since June, causing key crops to fail or rot and forcing locals to eat spoiled tubers. Some 7,500 residents of the two districts have been affected, with six people, including a baby, dying of dehydration or diarrhea.
